


Getting A Second Chance

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2013-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-05 03:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/718218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over time John has wondered what might have happened if his first date with Sarah hadn't gone so horribly awry. After Sherlock's death they talk and decide maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to try again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting A Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eanor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eanor/gifts).



> Answering the first half of a two part prompt I already answered for the sherlockmas Afterglow Fest: "Sarah being awesome. She doesn’t suddenly have to turn into a BAMF, I’d just love something that shows her in a really positive light. Maybe you can elaborate on the reasons John likes her (apart from him desperately hitting on all women)."

He had to admit, he liked women. Some might say he liked them a bit too much and that he hit on every woman he came across. That wasn’t _quite_ true, though he supposed flirting was second nature for him. He did it without realizing it half the time, and that tended to land him in some awkward positions. And even if it was true that he’d flirt with any pretty woman with a pulse, half the women he hit on wouldn’t give him the time of day most of the time. Some of them were flattered but not interested, but most of those who weren’t interested either ignored it or told him in no uncertain terms how much they didn’t want to hear it. He had gotten used to it, the sting of rejection. But it didn’t stop him from trying, though.

He’d had a rule that he wouldn’t ask out anyone he worked with. Dating in the workplace often led to trouble. He’d heard the horror stories from friends and colleagues, seen the troubles it caused with his own two eyes. He never wanted to mix work with pleasure because he didn’t want to extricate himself from a terrible mess if the relationship went south. Dating the boss was even higher on his list of things not to do. That was just asking for trouble and unemployment if the relationship failed.

Sarah was different, though. He knew that balancing his duties at the clinic with his case solving with Sherlock probably wasn’t the brightest idea, and she should have fired him on the spot for the late arrivals and falling asleep on the job. But she was understanding, she was patient, and most of all she was nice. The more time he spent with her the more he began to fancy her, and the less he cared that she was his boss and that she held his future employment in her hands. He just really wanted to go out on a date with her.

And then when he actually did ask her out and Sherlock ruined it and she almost got killed he was fairly certain she’d toss his arse out right then and there and he’d have to look for another way to support himself. But she just said no more dates, and that was that. She was a good woman, and she earned his respect that way. It was respect she had kept over time, and while he still fancied her quite a bit and often wondered what might have happened if things had gone differently, he knew he could shelve those feelings and work well with her. Still, the thoughts lingered, and that was one of the many things he’d thought about when his thoughts would whir and he couldn’t sleep.

It was now a few years later, and his life had taken a drastic turn with Sherlock’s suicide. Sarah had been understanding, having seen firsthand just how much of his life had been wrapped up in Sherlock’s. It was a hard job separating the life he’d had from what he was left with, and Sarah told him to take all the time he needed. It was two months after Sherlock’s suicide, and his first day back at work, and while the other doctors would whisper and talk Sarah had marched into his office and gotten right into work. He appreciated that more than she knew, and he found himself asking her to join him for lunch today, if she was able.

Now they were at a local café, sipping coffees with his sandwich and her salad, watching the world walk past them. He was watching her more than the others, and after a few moments she stopped eating and looked at him. “Are you all right, John?”

He nodded, snapping out of it and looking at his sandwich. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“But you’ve been better.”

He sighed. “I’ve been better.”

She reached over and placed a hand over his. “It’s all right to miss him, but you’ve got to move on. I know he wouldn’t like you dwelling on his death. He’d think it was boring and trivial.”

He looked at their hands, then her. “I know that. I mean, in my head I know that. But the rest of me just doesn’t care.”

“Are you sure you should have come back to work?” she asked with a slight frown.

“Yes. I’ve been going stir crazy at home. I need to do _something_.”

She squeezed his hand slightly and gave him a small smile. “I can give you more patients, if you’d like. Take some of the burden off the other doctors since you’re more available now.”

“I’d like that,” he said with a nod. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said. She pulled her hand away but he grabbed it again, and she looked at him, surprised. “John?”

“If our date hadn’t gone as horribly wrong as it did, would you have gone on another date with me?” he asked.

She was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I probably would have. You’re a good man, John. Kind and caring and interesting. I would have gone on another date with you.”

“I keep thinking on that. You’re the first woman I went out on a date with when I got back from the war. I’ve often wondered what might have happened if we had met under different circumstances.”

“Well, if it was before you met Sherlock, you wouldn’t have been the same man. You’ve told me a bit about what it was like when you came back. I don’t think you would have been so…alive. And after that first date, well, I don’t know if Sherlock wouldn’t have continued to be a pain in the arse. Perhaps it’s best that things went as they did.”

“Would you ever consider giving it another go?” he asked quietly.

“Maybe,” she said. “I mean, I’m still attracted to you, even after everything. I’ve just done my best to treat you as a colleague and a friend. I felt it was safer that way. But…I might try again, now.”

He smiled at her a bit, a warmer smile than he’d worn since Sherlock’s death. She had seen him paste on a fake smile when she would visit to check up on that, he knew that, and he could see her respond to how genuine this smile looked with a warm smile of her own. “I don’t deserve a second chance, but thank you for possibly giving it to me.”

“John, you do deserve a second chance,” she said with a slight chuckle. “Don’t have such a low opinion about yourself. I’ll tell you what. When we finish tonight, how about we go out and get dinner? No pressure, nothing like that. We’ll go on a normal date and see how that works out and go from there.”

“I could agree to that,” he said with a nod.

“Your treat, though. But I’ll cover lunch.”

“Then wouldn’t this be our first date since the last one?” he asked, his smile widening slightly.

“It’s a date when you pay. That’s my new rule,” she said with a chuckle. “So this is just two colleagues having lunch. Dinner will be the date.”

He grinned wider and let go of her hand. He was lucky enough to get a second chance. He was not going to let it go this time, and he hoped that maybe this would be the start of a yet another chapter in his life, and hopefully it would end better than his last.


End file.
